Hao Meng

In historical records

Hao Meng was from Henei Commandery (河內郡), which is in present-day Henan. One night in the sixth lunar month of 196, he rebelled against Lü Bu in Xiapi (下邳; present-day Pizhou, Jiangsu), the capital of Lü Bu's domain, Xu Province, and led his men to attack Lü Bu's headquarters. He was unable to break into the building. Lü Bu was not aware of the identities of the rebels, but he heard their voices and recognised from their accents that they were from Henei. He was bare-bodied and his hair was dishevelled when the attack occurred. Lü Bu and his wife escaped by climbing over the wall and then they fled to the camp of Gao Shun, one of Lü's subordinates. Lü Bu told Gao Shun about the Henei accents he heard, and Gao deduced that the rebel leader was Hao Meng. Gao Shun then led his troops to Lü Bu's office and drove the rebels away by firing arrows at them. Hao Meng and his men retreated back to their own camp.

Hao Meng's subordinate Cao Xing refused to betray Lü Bu, so he turned against his superior and fought with him. During the fight, Hao Meng injured Cao Xing with his spear, but Cao cut off one of his arms with his sword. By then, Gao Shun had shown up to attack Hao Meng's camp and he beheaded Hao. Lü Bu praised Cao Xing for remaining loyal to him and he put Cao in charge of Hao's men.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Lü Bu was besieged by Cao Cao's forces during the Battle of Xiapi, Hao Meng was sent to request reinforcements from Yuan Shu. He was captured by Zhang Fei in an ambush and was executed by Cao Cao.